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Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Making Progress!

Hey guyssss! Ughh its been way too long! I missed writing here as if it were a friend I haven't seen in a while. So in the weeks since I've shared with you guys last, I feel like PROGRESS would be the word that's consuming my life right now.

Adam and I have been working our butts off trying to make this little house our family's home. AKA I'm going way over budget (what's a budget?) and Adam's trying to reel me back in.

Other then the house, I've also been making progress with all the babies sleeping habits in the new house AND my baby weight loss.

So, I'll just tell you a little bit about each...

1. Our House
Having the 3 little monkeys around has been making my other true love, decorating, EXTREMELY difficult. But we have been making some great changes. If you remember back to my vision pictures, the family room is now painted navy with an awesome navy & white striped rug. I've learned that even though, I'm an avid DIY-er, some things are better left to professionals like painting this large living room. A family friend and painter in the area, Bobby, painted it with short notice and super fast for a great deal (see Adam, I'm paying attention to the budget!) If you live in the Philly/Jersey area, I highly recommend him!

I'm also counting down the minutes day until the built-ins get put in because the toys are everywhere!! Can't wait to just shove every last toy into closed doors.

Our dining room is a soft gray with a very big farmhouse pedestal table and tolex chairs- at first I wasn't in love, but they are growing on me. I have decided I need 2 end chairs that have some height. The twinnies are moving to booster seats at this table and Chatham is now big enough for a high chair so some changes will be made in the dining room!

Adam's office has been painted, new rug, desk, shelves, etc. and I'm working on a masculine gallery wall and a big chalkboard wall for his random thoughts throughout the day.

Our bedroom needs to be painted a soft blue but the nightstands we stained/painted are done and we're just waiting on the brass pulls for them. I so wish when I bought our headboard that I had picked cream instead of brown but live and learn! (or sell it on craigslist and buy a cream one! ha)

Terrible mom alert: the twins AND Chatham's room basically have just the essentials right now and when I catch my breath, I can shift my focus to their rooms. Anywhooo- it's getting there! And I'll continue to share some pictures.

2. Kiddo's Sleeping
So the twins adjusted GREAT to sleeping here. Because of our strict bedtime routine and babywise practices, the twins are AWESOME at basically sleeping anywhere! Chatham's damn crib took forever to get here so she was back and forth between what she was sleeping in and it was totally unfair and led to some not so great naps. But, once her crib arrived, she fell into a rhythm like a champ! So far, so good- she's loving it!

I will say I have learned so much about parenting with Chatham. I thought what I went through with the twins was basically the only option. And because all the training I did with them worked SO well, I tried to replicate that with Chatham. WRONG IDEA MAMA.

This little angel has a mind of her own and from day one has wanted to separate herself from her older bother and sister. Twins loved being swaddled, Chatham no way, loves being spread out, moving all over the place. Twins were addicted to the pacifiers from the NICU, Chatham could take it or leave it and she uses a big girl bink! The twins needed a lot of attention to learn everything (mostly due to them being preemies), every single thing they learned (from drinking a bottle to walking) basically had to be taught by me, Adam, and a physical therapist. Chatham just sails through milestones before Adam and I even know she can do something.

So- what I've learned as a mommy, learn your child and let them guide you! I still try and keep her on a schedule according to the day set with the twins and she just rolls with the punches. Stay tuned for an entire post on this later!

3. Baby Weight Loss
Shortly after having the twins, I realized my body would NEVER be the same. Not only did I carry 2 children at once, but I also pumped religiously to help the twins in the NICU. My body never really got a chance to heal all the way, because shortly after I got pregnant with Chatham and breastfed her. So 6 weeks after having her, I took a long hard look in the mirror. I had to come to terms with my new body with the things I could not change- c-section scar, a few stretch marks, and different boobs! But, I knew there was just NO way I could live comfortably at the weight that I was. I slowly started eating better and started running a bit to begin to lose some of my weight, it tapered off during the winter holidays and on January 2, I joined Weight Watchers. I've done WW before, but like everyone successful on the program says, this time I vowed to make it a lifestyle change.

With Pinterest and google, making delicious WW meals has been so easy! Anyways, I climbed all the way up to 173lbs. during pregnancy and am now at 150.4lbs. My goal is to make is to around 125-130lbs. I am in my bestie/cousins wedding & my brothers wedding so I do have some motivation to hurry it along. Adam and I think we're going to join a gym around our new house (hello free babysitting!). Hopefully that will just speed up my weight loss progress.

On that note, all 3 babes are sleeping, so back to getting house work done! In my next post I'll show you how I'm letting my twin toddlers express their independence in the kitchen!